7 Horror Movies That Were Almost Even Darker

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Horror films are usually filled with frightening and intense moments, but some almost went even further with darkness and violence. The horror genre is incredibly diverse – some movies aim for laughs or a playful tone, while others are deeply unsettling and focus on drama, suspense, or psychological thrills.

No matter how unsettling a movie gets, it could always be more intense. Horror films frequently test how far they can go with disturbing content without losing their audience. Sometimes filmmakers realize they’ve pushed things too far, and that’s what happened with the original plans for these seven movies.

7) Weapons

Zach Cregger’s horror film, Weapons, has received a lot of praise, and the ending could have been even more unsettling. In the movie, Gladys is defeated, which releases the children she had been controlling. However, the trauma of being under her influence leaves them unable to speak. The film concludes with a voiceover explaining that the children gradually regain their ability to speak over time.

According to Zach Cregger, the movie’s ending changed from his initial vision. Originally, Weapons ended with Matthew simply staring into space. However, test audiences found this ending too bleak, so Cregger added the narration to provide more closure.

6) Happy Death Day

As a horror fan, I really enjoyed Happy Death Day – it’s a fun, comedic take on the slasher genre, and surprisingly not too dark, even with all the dying! But you know, the initial ending they had planned was apparently much bleaker. Thankfully, they went with a version where Tree finally takes out Lori, which breaks the time loop. It ends on a hopeful note, with Tree and Carter sharing a kiss, and things seem to be getting back to normal… until the craziness starts up again in Happy Death Day 2U, of course.

The original ending of the film was much darker. After his fight with Lori, Tree was taken to the hospital, where a nurse – who was secretly married to Tree’s professor, Dr. Butler – killed him. Viewers didn’t like this grim finale, so it was replaced with the more hopeful ending we see in the final cut.

5) Evil Dead (2013)

The 2013 remake of Evil Dead stands out from the rest of the series because it’s a much more realistic and gritty take on the typically over-the-top world of The Evil Dead. While already significantly darker than the original films, it could have been even more bleak. In the finished movie, Mia defeats the monstrous Abomination using a chainsaw and ultimately escapes the cabin.

The film initially ended with Mia being attacked by the forest’s evil force, similar to the finale of the original The Evil Dead. However, director Fede Álvarez originally envisioned an even more gruesome scene: Mia being lifted into the air and exploding in a shower of blood.

4) Event Horizon

Event Horizon is a very dark and frightening movie centered around themes of Hell. The film culminates in a showdown where Captain Miller confronts a demonic presence, Weir, who torments him with disturbing visions of his crew’s suffering. Miller ultimately sacrifices himself to protect them, but one survivor, Starck, experiences a haunting hallucination, briefly seeing Weir disguised as a rescuer.

One alternate ending featured Weir tormenting Miller by showing him a vision of a crewmate who had tragically burned to death on a past mission, leaving Miller deeply haunted. The other alternate ending altered Starck’s vision of Weir, replacing it with terrifying hallucinations of her crew screaming and their hands reaching for her.

3) Get Out

Jordan Peele’s film, Get Out, puts Chris through a terrifying ordeal, but he ultimately manages to escape with minimal physical harm. Just as he’s about to kill Rose, Chris hesitates and stops. A police car arrives, and instead of arresting Chris as expected, it’s revealed that the officer is his friend Rod, who works for the TSA. Rod and Chris drive away, leaving Rose to her fate.

The original ending of the film showed Chris being arrested. Rod then visited Chris in jail hoping to learn more about the Armitage family, but Chris remained silent. Although this ending was intended to strengthen the film’s social message, Jordan Peele opted for a more positive conclusion after showing the film to test audiences.

2) Alien

Ridley Scott’s Alien is a famously terrifying movie, and its ending is a major reason why. During the final battle, a hole opens in the spaceship, pulling the alien out into space. It briefly clings to a hook, but Ripley destroys the connection, finally killing it.

Ridley Scott has shared that the initial plan for the ending of Alien involved Ripley dying. According to Slash Film, she was meant to attempt to kill the Xenomorph with a harpoon, but it wouldn’t have worked. The alien would have then destroyed her helmet and killed her.

1) Gremlins

I remember when I first heard about how different Gremlins almost was! It’s already one of my favorite horror comedies because it balances scares with funny moments so well. But apparently, it was originally much darker. I was shocked to learn the scene where the Gremlins attack Billy’s mom was supposed to be way more intense – they originally planned for them to actually decapitate her and roll her head down the stairs as Billy came home! That would have completely changed the feel of the movie, making it a lot less funny and a lot more horrifying.

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2026-01-21 22:16